Design

Samsung has decided to split its CLP-300 colour laser printer line into two separate models: the non-networked CLP-300 and the networked CL-300N. This model truly does suffer from its lack of networking features, which makes it a very basic printer and a good fit for only the most utilitarian of home users. Without being able to connect to a network, small office users and business users alike will simply bypass this printer. However, without networking, this printer does come in considerably cheaper than other models. Perhaps that was Samsung's point, as it makes the printer attractive to traditional inkjet users.

Advantages

This compact laser printer is relatively light and measures 15.4" x 13.5" x 10.4". That makes it a great fit for the average home user's desk, where it can easily sit in a comparable inkjet printer's footprint. There are some drawbacks to its small form fact, however, in terms of printing speeds. Black and white pages of text print out at a relatively respectable rate of about 17 pages per minute. That's on par with similar consumer-level laser printers.

Disadvantages

Where the Samsung CLP-300 really misses the mark is its colour printing speed. At less than four pages a minute, this particular laser printer is hardly an improvement over competing (and more affordable) inkjet printer models. Considering its market is largely the traditional home users, it's hard to see how Samsung wins over any new users with such slow printing rates. Most people are looking for a speed improvement - not the status-quo that they've become accustomed to.

Home users may also be turned off by the lack of an external LCD screen on this printer, instead being presented only with LED indicators that flash when toner is getting low. And this printer compromises on internal memory; it comes with just 32MB. The network-enabled CLP-300N comes with twice that, and it shows in that printer's comparable printing performance. Those who have been looking into colour laser printers, eyeing a switch from their inkjet models, will probably want to look elsewhere for their first laser printer purchase. The Samsung CLP-300 features a few too many compromises to be considered a first choice.